Resource allocation for carrier aggregation

ABSTRACT

A method in a radio device of radio resource allocation for transmitting data on a plurality of communication carriers is provided. The method includes sensing on a first carrier and obtaining a first set of candidate radio resources for a first transmission on the first carrier, performing a first selection of one or a plurality of the candidate radio resources from the first set to be used for the first transmission, sensing on a second carrier and obtaining a second set of candidate radio resources for a second transmission on the second carrier, performing a second selection of one or a plurality of the candidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the second transmission, and performing the first selection and the second selection in dependency to each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 national stage application of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/EP2018/082738 filed on Nov. 27, 2018,which in turns claims domestic priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/590,879, filed on Nov. 27, 2017, the disclosures andcontent of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to resource selection for carrier aggregation andespecially to resource selection for sidelink communication within theframe of vehicle-to-everything, V2X, communication.

BACKGROUND

In 3GPP Release 14 LTE specifications, support for (LTE) V2Xcommunication has been introduced. V2X is a collective term whichincludes any combination of direct communication between vehicles,pedestrians and infrastructure. V2X communication may take advantage ofa network, NW, infrastructure, when available, but at least basic V2Xconnectivity should be possible even in case of lack of coverage.Providing an LTE-based V2X interface may be economically advantageousbecause of the LTE economies of scale and it may enable tighterintegration between communications with the NW infrastructure (V2I) andV2P and V2V communications, as compared to using a dedicated V2Xtechnology.

V2X communications may carry both non-safety and safety information,where each of the applications and services may be associated withspecific requirements sets, e.g., in terms of latency, reliability,and/or capacity.

Within the frame of vehicular communication, the EuropeanTelecommunications Standards Institute, ETSI, has defined two types ofmessages for road safety: Co-operative Awareness Message (CAM) andDecentralized Environmental Notification Message (DENM):

The CAM messages are intended to enable vehicles, including emergencyvehicles, to notify their presence and other relevant parameters in abroadcast fashion. Such messages may target other vehicles, pedestrians,and infrastructure, and are handled by their applications. CAM messagemay also serve as active assistance to safety driving for normaltraffic. The availability of a CAM message may be regularly checked,e.g. indicatively checked for every 100 ms, yielding a maximum detectionlatency requirement of <=100 ms for most messages. The latencyrequirement for Pre-crash sensing warning may be much shorter, e.g. 50ms.

The DENM messages are event-triggered, e.g. triggered when braking. Theavailability of a DENM message may also be regularly checked, e.g. alsochecked for every 100 ms, and the requirement of maximum latency is<=100 ms.

The package size of CAM and DENM message may vary e.g. from 100+ to 800+bytes; a typical size may be around 300 bytes. The message is supposedto be detected by all vehicles in proximity.

The Society of the Automotive Engineers, SAE, also defined a BasicSafety Message, BSM, for Distributed Short Range Communications, DSRC,with various messages sizes defined. According to the importance andurgency of the messages, the BSMs may be further classified intodifferent priorities.

In Release 14, two modes of operation, also being referred to astransmission modes or resource allocation modes), have been introducedfor V2X terminals or UEs: Mode 3 and Mode 4.

Mode 3 refers to a scheduling (and interference) management of V2Vtraffic assisted by central communication node, e.g. a base station, eNBor gNB that assigns the resources being used for V2V signaling and sendscorresponding control signals to the (V2X) UEs.

Mode 4, also being known as autonomous mode, refers to scheduling (andinterference) management of V2V traffic based on distributed algorithmsimplemented in the (V2X) UEs. The UEs thus take decisions related totransmission on its own. On important aspect of Mode 4 is that the UEselects the time-frequency resources to use for transmission from alarge set of resources configured by the network or preconfigured in theUE. In other words, the UE performs autonomous resource allocation, alsobeing referred to as distributed resource allocation.

In Mode 4, autonomous resource allocation makes combined use of twofeatures: semi-persistent transmission and sensing-based resourceallocation. Semi-persistent transmission exploits the fact that typicalsafety V2X traffic is (approximately) periodic, e.g. new packets aregenerated at regular intervals. Since packet arrivals are periodic, atransmitting UE can notify other UEs about its intention to use certaintime-frequency resources for future transmissions. Whereas, sensingconsists of monitoring the radio channel to learn the presence of suchsemi-persistent transmissions. In this way, UEs can avoid collisionswhen selecting their resources for their own transmissions. This is alsoreferred to as sensing-based resource allocation.

In the following embodiments, mainly Mode 4 is being referred to.However, similar procedure/method of scheduling may be adopted for Mode3 or any other comparable modes. 3GPP TS 36.213 specifies sensing-basedresource allocation in the LTE. This allocation may be split indifferent parts:

-   -   A first part refers to sensing channel resources. The procedure        as described in TS 36.213 defines how the UE is expected to        sense the channel during a certain period of time (1 second) and        used received signals to predict the future utilization of the        radio resources. Based on this predicted utilization, the UE        creates a list of radio resources (i.e., time-frequency        resources) that may be selected for transmission. This list is        usually a subset of all the radio resources; that is, some        resources are excluded as candidates for selection (e.g.,        because the UE predicts that they will be used by another UE).    -   A second part refers to resource allocation. The procedure as        described TS 36.321 defines how the UE selects the resources it        needs for transmission from the list of candidate resources        provided by sensing.

Currently, enhancements to the LTE V2X functionalities introduced inRelease 14 are discussed to be part of the upcoming Release 15 LTEspecification. One enhancement refers to carrier aggregation, CA, whichconsists of performing simultaneous transmissions over multiplecarriers. By using CA, it is possible to transmit larger packets,achieve larger transmission rates (in bits per second), or increase thereliability of the system (e.g., by transmitting the same packet overmultiple carriers). The transmissions over multiple carriers may takeplace at the same time or at different times (usually separated by a fewmilliseconds).

The autonomous resource allocation introduced in Release 14 for LTE V2Xis being designed for single carrier operation. It may be possible toextend this algorithm to multiple carriers e.g. by performingindependent per carrier resource allocation. However, such an extensionmay cause several problems:

-   -   UEs are subject to half-duplex constraints. That is, typically a        UE cannot transmit and receive at the same time in the same band        or even in bands that are not sufficiently far apart from each        other (in frequency). Consequently, a UE transmitting on        multiple carriers at different time instances may miss        transmissions by other UEs more often than a UE transmitting on        a single carrier.    -   UEs have limited hardware capabilities. That is, even if a UE        can transmit on multiple carriers, it may only use the carriers        sequentially. It may also take some time (TX switching time) for        the UE to switch from one carrier to another carrier.    -   UEs have power restrictions. That is, even if a UE would be able        to transmit on multiple carriers at the same time, it may not be        desirable to do so because the resulting power on each carrier        may be too low. Such restrictions may be due to regulations        and/or due to limitations of the UE (e.g., hardware or        architecture).

Alternatively, it could be envisaged to introduce a new autonomousresource allocation algorithm for operation on multiple carriers.However, introducing such new resource allocation algorithm only to beused by a subset of UEs (i.e., those UEs using carrier aggregation) maycause compatibility problems with the remaining UEs that use theexisting procedure. For reasons of efficiency, it may be undesirable tosegregate the UEs depending on their resource allocation algorithm.Further, different resource allocation algorithms for different UEs maybe disadvantageous for many UEs, e.g. in terms of probability ofcollisions, and/or resource availability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention describe allocate resources to radiodevices, e.g. UEs performing multi-carrier transmission (e.g., carrieraggregation) to mitigate at least some of the problems described above.

In an embodiment, resource allocation/selection is performed to reduce aperformance loss that may be caused by multi-carrier transmissionlimitations. Thereto, resource allocation on one carrier is beingperformed depending on one or a plurality of other radio resourcesselected on one or a plurality of other carriers.

An embodiment refers to a method in a radio device radio resourceallocation for transmitting data on a plurality of communicationcarriers, comprising, sensing on a first carrier and obtaining a firstset of candidate radio resources for a first transmission on the firstcarrier, performing a first selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the first set to be used for the firsttransmission, sensing on a second carrier and obtaining a second set ofcandidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier, performing a second selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission, wherein the first selection and the second selection areperformed in dependency to each other.

According to an embodiment, the radio device selects resources for afirst carrier and then applies a restriction to the resources that maybe selected in the second carrier.

Another embodiment refers to radio device adapted to perform the stepsof sensing on a first carrier and obtaining a first set of candidateradio resources for a first transmission on the first carrier,performing a first selection of one or a plurality of the candidateradio resources from the first set to be used for the firsttransmission, sensing on a second carrier and obtaining a second set ofcandidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier, performing a second selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission, wherein the first selection and the second selection areperformed in dependency to each other.

In another embodiment, the radio device is a user equipment according to3GPP specifications.

In another embodiment, the radio device is an access node or basestation (eNB or gNB) according to 3GPP specifications.

Another embodiment refers to a communication system including a hostcomputer comprising processing circuitry configured to provide userdata; and a communication interface configured to forward the user datato a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment, UE, whereinthe cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interfaceand processing circuitry, the base station and/or the UE being adaptedto perform the steps of sensing on a first carrier and obtaining a firstset of candidate radio resources for a first transmission on the firstcarrier, performing a first selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the first set to be used for the firsttransmission, sensing on a second carrier and obtaining a second set ofcandidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier, performing a second selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission, wherein the first selection and the second selection areperformed in dependency to each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a method according to embodiments,

FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically illustrate an exemplary resource selectioninvolving radio transmission resources in different carriers,

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a radio device for implementing amethod according to FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a telecommunication network connectedvia an intermediate network to a host computer,

FIG. 6 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicatingvia a base station with a user equipment over a partially wirelessconnection, and

FIGS. 7 to 10 are flowcharts illustrating methods implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following, further embodiments of allocating resources fortransmission on multiple carriers are described by way of example. Theembodiments or parts of embodiments may be combined.

The embodiments may relate to LTE, NR, as well as to other radio accesstechnologies. They may relate to any type of communication in which anode allocates resources for transmission on multiple carriers. This mayinclude sidelink communications (device to device communication, e.g.,D2D, V2X, etc.) as well as cellular communication (involving radioaccess nodes or base stations like eNB or gNB. Specifically, theembodiments may refer to an autonomous resource allocation procedure ina UE (without involving radio access nodes. The procedures described inthe embodiment may as well be implemented in radio access network node(e.g., eNB or gNB). However, similar methods may be implemented in anyradio infrastructure node.

A first embodiment refers to a method in a radio device, e.g. a UE orradio access node of radio resource allocation for transmitting data ona plurality of communication carriers, e.g. carrier 1 and carrier 2.FIG. 1 thereto shows the following steps:

-   -   Step 110: sensing on a first carrier (e.g. carrier 1) and        obtaining a first set of candidate radio resources for a first        transmission on the first carrier,    -   Step 120: performing a first selection of one or a plurality of        the candidate radio resources from the first set to be used for        the first transmission,    -   Step 130: sensing on a second carrier (e.g. carrier 2) and        obtaining a second set of candidate radio resources for a second        transmission on the second carrier, and    -   Step 140: performing a second selection of one or a plurality of        the candidate radio resources from the second set to be used for        the second transmission.

The first selection and the second selection are performed in dependencyto each other; e.g. the second selection is performed in dependency ofthe first selection.

In an embodiment, the radio resources are characterized according or aredefined by one or a plurality of resource properties, e.g. frequency(sub-band) and transmission time (e.g. a certain TTI within a certaintimeframe of a plurality of TTIs). The second selection is based on anevaluation of resource properties: of the one or the plurality of thecandidate radio resources selected from the first set, and of the radioresources of the second set.

In an embodiment, the first set of candidate radio resources isperformed by selecting a certain number of radio resources among thecandidate radio resources obtained by the sensing on the first carrier,e.g. by randomly selecting the certain number.

In an embodiment, the first selection is performed in dependency of thesecond set of candidate radio resources obtained by the sensing on thesecond carrier. Therein, a first subset of candidate resources may beobtained by removing one or a plurality of candidate radio resourcesfrom the first set in dependency of the second subset; performing thefirst selection may be performed by selecting the one or the pluralityof the candidate radio resources from the first subset.

In an embodiment, performing the second selection comprises selecting aradio resource associated to the same transmission time or TTI(transmission time interval) as the transmission time or TTI associatedto at least one of the resources selected to be used for the firsttransmission.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic resource grid of a first carrier, carrier 1,with a time axis as abscissa and a frequency axis as ordinate. The timeaxis is divided into a plurality of subsequent transmission timeintervals, TTIs, e.g. each time 10 TTIs per radio frame (TTI0−, TTI1, .. . , TTI9). axis is divided into a plurality of frequency intervals.Exemplary frequency intervals are depicted as first interval f1 andsecond interval f2 (f1 and f2 may also be regarded as carrierfrequencies associated to those intervals).

By way of example, a first plurality (or set) of radio resourcescomprises first resources R11 and second resources R12 each fortransmission at the first time TTI1, wherein the first resources (orresource block) R11 are associated to the first frequency interval f1,and the second resources R12 are associated to the second frequencyinterval f2.

FIG. 3 shows a similar schematic resource grid of a second carrier,carrier 2. By way of example, FIG. 3 shows a list of candidate resourcesfor the second carrier comprising two resources R21 and R22 fortransmission at the first TTI 1 and third resources R23 for transmissionat the second TTI2. Ressources R21 and R23 are by way of exampleassociated to the first frequency interval F1 and third resources R23are associated to the second frequency interval f2.

The list of selected resources for the first carrier (performed in step120) carrier by way of example only contains resources (R11, R12, R13)for transmission at the first TTI1. In the example shown here, theresources (R23) at the second TTI2 are removed or excluded from thesecond set. In this way it is taken care that all the resources of bothcarriers are for transmission at the same TTI (TTI1 in this example).Such, the aforementioned half-duplex constrains may be met.

In another embodiment, performing the second selection comprisesselecting out of the second set one or a plurality radio resources fortransmission time(s) or TTI(s) that are different to the transmissiontime or TTI (or to all of the transmission times) of the radioresource(s) selected to be used for the first transmission. Thereto, ifthe radio resources selected from the first set are resources for afirst transmission time (e.g. TTI1) and the list of candidate resourcesin the second set comprises radio resources for transmission at thefirst the time (e.g. TTI1) and at a second time (TTI2), the secondselection comprises selecting among the radio resources for the secondtransmission time (TTI2) or discarding the radio resources at the firsttransmission time (TT1). According to the example of FIG. 2 and, thatwould mean discarding resources R21 and R22 and keeping resource R23.

In an embodiment, a ranking of the first set and or the second set maybe performed. E.g. the set of candidate radio resources for the secondtransmission may be raked into a plurality of priority levels based on acomparison of the transmission times (TTIs) of the candidate resourcesselected from the first set for the first transmission, and thetransmission times (TTIs) of the candidate resources of the candidateresources of the second list. Therein, the ranking may be performed suchthat radio resources for transmission at the same time (or TTI) as thetransmission time (or TTI) of any of the resources selected from thefirst set for the first transmission are ranked higher (priority p2)than the other resources of the second set (priority p1). Therein, theranking may be performed such that radio resources for transmission atthe same time (or TTI) as the transmission time of any of the resourcesselected from the first set for the first transmission are ranked lowerlevel (priority p1) than the priority level (priority p2) of the otherresources of the second set.

In an embodiment, performing the second selection of the one or theplurality of the candidate radio resources from the second set to beused for the second transmission is based on the priority levels of theradio resources, such that only radio resources of the priority levelabove the lower level are selected, or that only radio resources of thepriority level above the lower level are selected, if the number of suchradio resources is not smaller than a certain (defined) number).

In an embodiment, performing the first and/or the second selection maybe based on a random selection of resources out of the respectivecandidate set.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an exemplary radio (or wireless) device30. The radio device may be a UE or an eNB. As shown in FIG. 4, theradio device 30 comprises physical layer functions or PHY entity 31 andMedia Access Control, MAC, layer functions or MAC entity 32, wherein thesteps of sensing on the first carrier and sensing on the second carrierare performed by the physical layer functions 31, and wherein thephysical layer functions transmit an information indicative of thecandidate radio resources of the first set and the second set to the MAClayer functions 32. The MAC layer functions may perform the firstselection (step 120) and the second selection (step 140). Alternatively,all the selection of the sets of candidate resource may be performed bythe physical layer 31.

The MAC layer may be commutatively coupled to a first (sidelink) HybridAutomatic Repeat Request, HARQ, entity 33 associated to the firstcarrier and a second (sidelink) HARQ entity 34 associated to the secondcarrier.

The MAC entity 32 allocates resources to both carriers and associatedHARQ entities on the base of the said passed candidate resources withoutany further action as compared to option described above.

The HARQ entities 33 and 34 may deliver their respective data to thephysical layer entity 31 which may suppress some of the transmissionswhich the MAC entity 32 may have granted,

In an embodiment, the physical layer entity 31 removes resources at thefirst time from the set of candidate resources to be passed to the MACentity 31 (in this case, the MAC entity may only perform resourceallocation of the resources available at first time signaled by thephysical layer entity).

In an embodiment, the wireless device, e.g. the MAC layer or the PHYlayer, may further consider other factors to determine whether to selectresources at first time or second time. For example, even if for bothfirst carrier and second carrier, there are candidate resources atsecond time and only for one of said carriers, e.g. the first carrier,there are candidate resources available at first time, the MAC entitymay schedule transmission for the first HARQ entity 33 at first timeand/or the second time, and transmissions for the second HARQ entity 34at the second time. Thereto, at least one of the following conditionsmay be met:

1) the time gap between the TTI at first time (TTI1) and the TTI atsecond time (TTI1) is larger than a certain threshold,

2) delay sensitive data is present in the HARQ buffer, for whichtransmitting at the second time may not fulfill certain latencyrequirements,

3) an amount of data in the buffer is larger than the resourcesavailable by only transmitting at second time, e.g. it would result inmore radio link control (RLC) service data unit (SDU) segments thantransmitting on both first time and second time,

4) by transmitting on both carriers at first time, the available powerbudget in the wireless device is exceeded.

The physical layer 31 may be coupled, e.g. through a transceiver, to anantenna 35.

In the following embodiments are described in more detail. By mean ofexample, within these embodiments the radio device is a UE 30.

First Further Embodiment

In this embodiment resources for transmission are selected for a firstcarrier. Then, the resulting selection for the first carrier is used forselecting resources for a second carrier.

Thereto, the UE 30 may perform the following steps:

-   -   sensing individually on each of carriers and obtaining for each        carrier, a list of candidate radio resources for transmission;    -   selecting resources for a first transmission in a first carrier        from the set of candidate resources; and    -   restricting the list of candidate resources for the second        carrier based on the resources selected for the first        transmission in the first carrier and selecting resources for        transmission in the second carrier from the restricted list.

For example, the sensing-based resource allocation procedure asdescribed above is modified as follows to allow for simultaneoustransmission on two carriers (extensions to more carriers arestraightforward):

-   -   The UE 30 performs sensing individually on each of the carriers.        For each carrier, the UE 30 obtains (independently) a list of        candidate radio resources for transmission.    -   At least one of the lists of candidate resources may be modified        by discarding some of the resources. For example, if the list of        candidate resources for the first carrier contains resources for        transmission at first time Ta and second time Tb and the list of        candidate resources for the second carrier only contains        resources for transmission at second time Tb, then the resources        at first time Ta may be removed from the list of the first        carrier.    -   Discarding some of the resources may be subject to certain        conditions. For example, if not enough resources can be found        after discarding (e.g., 20%), then the UE 30 may stop (may not        be allowed) to continue executing the method.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for a first transmission in a first        carrier from the set of candidate resources. For example,        resources may be selected at random.    -   The UE 30 restricts the list of candidate resources for the        second carrier based on the resources selected for the first        transmission in the first carrier:    -   For example, if the UE 30 has selected resources in the first        carrier for transmission at first time Ta and the list of        candidate resources in the second carrier includes resources for        transmission at first time Ta and third time Tc, then the UE 30        may select among the resources for transmission at first time        Ta.    -   An example for modeling/implementation for this step is being        described in the fourth embodiment.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for transmission in the second        carrier.    -   The UE 30 performs the first transmission using the radio        resources selected in the first carrier and the second        transmission using the radio resources selected in the second        carrier.

In this way transmissions on both carriers may happen at the same time,so that an amount of time the UE 30 is affected by half-duplex operationmay be reduced.

In another example, the sensing-based resource allocation proceduredescribed in the background section may be modified for transmission ontwo carriers in view of power considerations (extensions to morecarriers are straightforward):

-   -   The UE 30 performs sensing individually on each of the carriers.        For each carrier, the UE obtains independently a list of        candidate radio resources for transmission.    -   (Optional) At least one of the lists of candidate resources is        modified by discarding some of the resources.    -   For example, if the list of candidate resources for the first        carrier contains resources for transmission at time first Ta and        second time Tb and the list of candidate resources for the        second carrier only contains resources for transmission at        second time Tb, then the resources at second time Tb are removed        from the list of the first carrier.    -   An example for modeling/implementation for this step is being        described in the fourth embodiment.    -   Discarding some of the resources may be subject to some        conditions. For example, if not enough resources can be found        after discarding (e.g., 20%), then the UE 30 may stop (may not        be allowed) to continue executing the method.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for a first transmission in a first        carrier from the set of candidate resources. For example,        resources may be selected at random.    -   The UE 30 restricts the list of candidate resources for the        second carrier based on the resources selected for the first        transmission in the first carrier.    -   For example, if the UE 30 has selected resources in the first        carrier for transmission at first time Ta and the list of        candidate resources in the second carrier includes resources for        transmission at first time Ta and third time Tc, then the UE 30        may select among the resources for transmission at third time        Tc.    -   An example for modeling/implementation for this step is being        described in the fourth embodiment.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for transmission in the second        carrier.    -   The UE 30 performs the first transmission using the radio        resources selected in the first carrier and the second        transmission using the radio resources selected in the second        carrier    -   In this way, transmissions on both carriers may happen at        different points in time, so that the power need not to be        shared between carriers. This latter method may be enabled, if        the UE 30 exceeds the maximum power available for sidelink        transmissions due to transmitting on more than one carrier at        the same time.

Second Further Embodiment

Instead of completely discarding (optional Step 2 of the firstembodiment) or restricting the list of candidate resources for selection(Step 3 of the first embodiment), the candidate resources may be rankedin according to priorities.

For example, the sensing-based resource allocation procedure describedin the background section may be modified to allow for simultaneoustransmission on two carriers (extensions to more carriers arestraightforward):

-   -   The UE 30 performs sensing individually on each of the carriers.        For each carrier, the UE 30 obtains independently a list of        candidate radio resources for transmission.    -   (Optional) At least one of the lists of candidate resources may        be modified by prioritizing the resources.    -   For example, if the list of candidate resources for the first        carrier contains resources for transmission at first time Ta and        second time Tb and the list of candidate resources for the        second carrier only contains resources for transmission at        second time Tb, then the resources at first time Ta are set to        lower priority (e.g. to priority p1) compared to the other        resources (e.g., having priority p2, where p1<p2) of the list of        the first carrier.    -   An example for modeling/implementation for this step is being        described in the fourth embodiment.    -   Setting the priority of the resources may be subject to certain        conditions. For example, if not enough resources can be found        based on information on resources from other carrier (e.g.,        20%), then the UE 30 may not be allowed to set the highest        possible priority. In other words, different priority levels can        be defined based on the available resources.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for a first transmission in a first        carrier from the set of candidate resources. For example,        resources may be selected at random.    -   The UE 30 prioritizes the list of candidate resources for the        second carrier based on the resources selected for the first        transmission in the first carrier.    -   For example, if the UE 30 has selected resources in the first        carrier for transmission at first time Ta and the list of        candidate resources in the second carrier includes resources for        transmission at first time Ta and third time Tc, then the UE 30        may select among the resources for transmission at first time Ta        with higher priority (e.g. p2, where p2>p1).    -   An example for modeling/implementation for this step is being        described in the fourth embodiment.    -   The UE 30 selects resources for transmission in the second        carrier based on the priority levels.    -   The UE 30 performs the first transmission using the radio        resources selected in the first carrier and the second        transmission using the radio resources selected in the second        carrier.

It is to be noted that similar procedure may be applied if resources areselected based on power limitation criteria.

Third Further Embodiment

This embodiment refers to an exemplary selection among differentresource allocation procedures.

A UE 30 may be configured with a plurality of resource allocationprocedures, e.g., as being described above and/or any furtherprocedures.

A rule for selecting a resource allocation procedure out of theplurality of resource allocation procedures may depend on an occupancysituation in the different carriers. Occupancy of a carrier (or of apool of resources in a carrier) may be determined by means of certainoccupancy indicators, e.g. a channel busy ratio, CBR, or a channel ratioor occupancy ratio, CR.

If an occupancy indicator (e.g. CBR or CR) is below a certain thresholdfor a first carrier (e.g. carrier 1), the UE 30 may decide (may beallowed) to use a first resource allocation procedure on that carrier.Otherwise, it may decide (may be allowed) to use a second resourceallocation procedure on that carrier.

For transmission on multiple carriers, the same resource allocationmethod must be allowed on all of them (e.g. on carrier 1 and carrier 2).

The same rule may be applied to multiple carriers (e.g. if the occupancyindicator for carrier 1 and carrier 2 is below a threshold, then a firstresource allocation procedure is used. Otherwise a second procedure isused, or vice versa).

Alternatively or additionally, the rule for selecting a resourceallocation procedure may depend on a priority of the message(s) totransmit. The Priority of the message may be determined by means ofindicators like PPPP (ProSe Per Packet Priority).

As an example, if the message to transmit has a certain priority (e.g.PPPP above a certain threshold), then the UE 30 may (be allowed to) usea first resource allocation procedure on that carrier. Otherwise, it may(be allowed to) use a second resource allocation procedure.

Alternatively or additionally, the rule for selecting a resourceallocation procedure may depend on a carrier or pool configuration.

As an example, if the aggregated carriers are configured for only safetyapplications, then the UE 30 may (be allowed to) use a first resourceallocation procedure on that carrier. Otherwise, it may (be allowed to)use a second resource allocation procedure.

Fourth Further Embodiment

Embodiments disclosed above may be realized with different protocolstack modeling. In some examples described below, the UE 30 isconfigured to prioritize scheduling such that the transmissions on twoor more carriers occur at the same time, so that the amount of time theUE 30 is affected by half-duplex constraints may be reduced. Similarmeasures can be taken mitigate power restriction constraints asdiscussed above.

In one option, the physical layer in the UE 30 passes (or signals) thecandidate resources for the above-mentioned carriers to the MAC layer inthe UE 30, (i.e. the MAC entity).

In order to mitigate the half-duplex constraints, the MAC entity checksfor each TTI, at time a first time Ta, for which carriers the physicallayer has indicated resource availability for transmission on that TTI.If the carrier (e.g. said the first carrier) which has selectedresources available at the time Ta, also has resources available at asecond time Tb, and

-   -   1) such resources available at the second time Tb, as per        physical layer signaling, are also available for said second        carrier, and    -   2) there is no other carrier for which physical layer indicated        candidate resources at the first time Ta,        the MAC entity does not schedule resources for the first carrier        for the TTI at the first time Ta. The MAC entity may instead        deliver a sidelink grant at second time Tb to both a first        sidelink HARQ entity (associated to the first sidelink carrier)        and second sidelink HARQ entity (associated to the second        sidelink carrier), and not provide to the first sidelink HARQ        entity any sidelink grant at the second time Tb.

Each sidelink HARQ entity may use the resources selected by the MACentity to accommodate data available in the sidelink buffer for thedifferent sidelink processes allocated for this sidelink HARQ entity.Among the resources selected by the MAC entity to a sidelink HARQentity, the sidelink HARQ entity may further select a subset of thoseresources (e.g. depending on the amount of data available in the buffer)or simply use all those resources and tune the transmitting parameters(e.g. MCS) to accommodate the data available.

Each sidelink HARQ entity may deliver then their respective data tophysical layer for data transmissions.

In another embodiment, the physical layer or PHY in the UE 30 passes thecandidate resources for the two above said carriers to the MAC layer (orthe MAC entity) in the UE 30. The MAC entity allocates resources to bothsidelink carriers and associated sidelink HARQ entities on the base ofthe said passed candidate resources without any further action ascompared to option described above.

The HARQ entities may deliver their respective data to physical layerwhich may mute or suppress some of the transmissions which the MAC layermay have granted, e.g. muting or suppressing of transmissions onresources at first time Ta (to take care that the data associated to thecorresponding HARQ entity for transmission at first time Ta are nottransmitted).

In an embodiment, the physical layer removes resources at the first timeTa from the set of candidate resources to be passed to MAC layer (inthis case, the MAC layer may only perform resource allocation of theresources available at first time Ta signaled by PHY).

In an embodiment, the UE 30 (MAC layer or PHY layer) may furtherconsider other factors to determine whether to select resources at firsttime Ta or second time Tb. For example, even if for both first carrierand second carrier, there are candidate resources at second time Tb andonly for one of said carriers, e.g. the first carrier, there arecandidate resources available at first time Ta, the MAC entity mayeventually schedule transmission for first sidelink HARQ entity (offirst carrier) at first time Ta and/or second time Tb, and transmissionsfor second sidelink HARQ entity (of second carrier) at time Tb. Thereto,at least one of the following conditions may be met:

1) the time gap between the TTI at first time Ta and the TTI at secondtime Tb is larger than a certain threshold,

2) delay sensitive data is present in the sidelink HARQ buffer, forwhich transmitting at second time Tb may not fulfill latencyrequirements,

3) an amount of data in the buffer is larger than the resourcesavailable by only transmitting at second time Tb, e.g. it would resultin more RLC SDUs segments than transmitting on both first time Ta andsecond time Tb,

4) by transmitting on both carriers at first time Ta, the UE 30available power budget is exceeded.

One or more of the above-described factors may be considered by the UE30. Which factors should be considered may depend on UE implementation,network configuration, and/or preconfigured in the UE 30. For example,the (pre)configuration may enable the UE 30 to follow the above methodsfollowing one or more of the above factors, or depend on the actual UEstatus (e.g., UE power available, battery power remained) and sidelinkUE buffer status.

Fifth Further Embodiment

According to some embodiments, the selection of a first set of availableresources for transmission on a carrier (e.g. on a first carrier) iseither according to pre-configuration or based on some rules consideringparameters such as load on the carriers (e.g., measured by CBR) and/orservice-to-carrier mapping, etc. For instance, in above embodiments, thecarrier with the least CBR is selected as the first carrier among allthe available carriers. Similarly, in above embodiments, the carrierwith mapping to high-priority applications are selected as the firstcarrier.

In an embodiment, if more than two carriers are available, the carriersmay be ranked to apply resource (re)selection restrictions according tothe above embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 5, in accordance with embodiments, acommunication system includes a telecommunication network 3210, such asa 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 3211,such as a radio access network, and a core network 3214. The accessnetwork 3211 comprises a plurality of base stations 3212 a, 3212 b, 3212c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points,each defining a corresponding coverage area 3213 a, 3213 b, 3213 c. Eachbase station or eNB, here being referred to as eNBs 3212 a, 3212 b, 3212c is connectable to the core network 3214 over a wired or wirelessconnection 3215. A first user equipment (UE), here being referred to as(first) UE 3291 located in coverage area 3213 c is configured towirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station3212 c. A second UE 3292 in coverage area 3213 a is wirelesslyconnectable to the corresponding base station 3212 a. While a pluralityof UEs 3291, 3292 are illustrated in this example, the disclosedembodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is inthe coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the correspondingbase station 3212.

The telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to a hostcomputer 3230, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software ofa standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server oras processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 3230 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Theconnections 3221, 3222 between the telecommunication network 3210 andthe host computer 3230 may extend directly from the core network 3214 tothe host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network3220. The intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination ofmore than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediatenetwork 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; inparticular, the intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or moresub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 5 as a whole enables connectivitybetween one of the connected UEs 3291, 3292 and the host computer 3230.The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection3250. The host computer 3230 and the connected UEs 3291, 3292 areconfigured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection3250, using the access network 3211, the core network 3214, anyintermediate network 3220 and possible further infrastructure (notshown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 3250 may be transparent inthe sense that the participating communication devices through which theOTT connection 3250 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlinkcommunications. For example, a base station 3212 may not or need not beinformed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communicationwith data originating from a host computer 3230 to be forwarded (e.g.,handed over) to connected (first) UE 3291. Similarly, the base station3212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplinkcommunication originating from the UE 3291 towards the host computer3230.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 6. In a communicationsystem 3300, a host computer 3310 comprises hardware 3315 including acommunication interface 3316 configured to set up and maintain a wiredor wireless connection with an interface of a different communicationdevice of the communication system 3300. The host computer 3310 furthercomprises processing circuitry 3318, which may have storage and/orprocessing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 3318may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer3310 further comprises software 3311, which is stored in or accessibleby the host computer 3310 and executable by the processing circuitry3318. The software 3311 includes a host application 3312. The hostapplication 3312 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user,such as a (further) UE 3330 connecting via an OTT connection 3350terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing theservice to the remote user, the host application 3312 may provide userdata which is transmitted using the OTT connection 3350.

The communication system 3300 further includes a (further) base station3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325enabling it to communicate with the host computer 3310 and with the UE3330. The hardware 3325 may include a communication interface 3326 forsetting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with aninterface of a different communication device of the communicationsystem 3300, as well as a radio interface 3327 for setting up andmaintaining at least a wireless connection 3370 with a UE 3330 locatedin a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 6) served by the base station3320. The communication interface 3326 may be configured to facilitate aconnection 3360 to the host computer 3310. The connection 3360 may bedirect or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 6) ofthe telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediatenetworks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown,the hardware 3325 of the base station 3320 further includes processingcircuitry 3328, which may comprise one or more programmable processors,application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arraysor combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.The base station 3320 further has software 3321 stored internally oraccessible via an external connection.

The communication system 3300 further includes the UE 3330 alreadyreferred to. Its hardware 3335 may include a radio interface 3337configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 3370 with a basestation serving a coverage area in which the UE 3330 is currentlylocated. The hardware 3335 of the UE 3330 further includes processingcircuitry 3338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors,application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arraysor combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.The UE 3330 further comprises software 3331, which is stored in oraccessible by the UE 3330 and executable by the processing circuitry3338. The software 3331 includes a client application 3332. The clientapplication 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human ornon-human user via the UE 3330, with the support of the host computer3310. In the host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 maycommunicate with the executing client application 3332 via the OTTconnection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310.In providing the service to the user, the client application 3332 mayreceive request data from the host application 3312 and provide userdata in response to the request data. The OTT connection 3350 maytransfer both the request data and the user data. The client application3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that itprovides.

It is noted that the host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330illustrated in FIG. 6 may be identical to the host computer 3230, one ofthe base stations 3212 a, 3212 b, 3212 c and one of the UEs 3291, 3292of FIG. 5, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of theseentities may be as shown in FIG. 6 and independently, the surroundingnetwork topology may be that of FIG. 5.

In FIG. 6, the OTT connection 3350 has been drawn abstractly toillustrate the communication between the host computer 3310 and the useequipment 3330 via the base station 3320, without explicit reference toany intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via thesedevices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it maybe configured to hide from the UE 3330 or from the service provideroperating the host computer 3310, or both. While the OTT connection 3350is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions bywhich it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of loadbalancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

The wireless connection 3370 between the UE 3330 and the base station3320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments describedthroughout this disclosure.

One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTTservices provided to the UE 3330 using the OTT connection 3350, in whichthe wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, theteachings of these embodiments may improve the latency or powerconsumption and thereby provide benefits such as better responsiveness,extended battery lifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 between the hostcomputer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurementresults. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality forreconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in the software3311 of the host computer 3310 or in the software 3331 of the UE 3330,or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or inassociation with communication devices through which the OTT connection3350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure bysupplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, orsupplying values of other physical quantities from which software 3311,3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguringof the OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmissionsettings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect thebase station 3320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the basestation 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known andpracticed in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involveproprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer's 3310measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. Themeasurements may be implemented in that the software 3311, 3331 causesmessages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages,using the OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times,errors etc.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 7will be included in this section. In a first step 3410 of the method,the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep 3411 of thefirst step 3410, the host computer provides the user data by executing ahost application. In a second step 3420, the host computer initiates atransmission carrying the user data to the UE. In an optional third step3430, the base station transmits to the UE the user data which wascarried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. In an optional fourth step 3440, the UE executes aclient application associated with the host application executed by thehost computer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 8will be included in this section. In a first step 3510 of the method,the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown)the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In a second step 3520, the host computer initiates atransmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may passvia the base station, in accordance with the teachings of theembodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional thirdstep 3530, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 9will be included in this section. In an optional first step 3610 of themethod, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer.Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second step 3620, the UEprovides user data. In an optional substep 3621 of the second step 3620,the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In afurther optional substep 3611 of the first step 3610, the UE executes aclient application which provides the user data in reaction to thereceived input data provided by the host computer. In providing the userdata, the executed client application may further consider user inputreceived from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which theuser data was provided, the UE initiates, in an optional third substep3630, transmission of the user data to the host computer. In a fourthstep 3640 of the method, the host computer receives the user datatransmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of theembodiments described throughout this disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 10will be included in this section. In an optional first step 3710 of themethod, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments describedthroughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from theUE. In an optional second step 3720, the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In a thirdstep 3730, the host computer receives the user data carried in thetransmission initiated by the base station.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a radio device of radioresource allocation for transmitting data on a plurality ofcommunication carriers, the method comprising: sensing on a firstcarrier and obtaining a first set of candidate radio resources for afirst transmission on the first carrier; performing a first selection ofone or a plurality of the candidate radio resources from the first setto be used for the first transmission on the first carrier; sensing on asecond carrier different from the first carrier and obtaining a secondset of candidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier on the second carrier; performing a second selection of one or aplurality of the candidate radio resources from the second set to beused for the second transmission; and wherein the first selection andthe second selection are performed in time dependency to each other. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the second selection is performed in timedependency of the first selection.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theradio resources are characterized according to one or a plurality ofresource properties, and wherein the second selection is performed basedon an evaluation of resource properties: of the one or the plurality ofthe candidate radio resources selected from the first set, and of theradio resources of the second set.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein oneof the resource properties is a transmission time, e.g. a transmissiontime interval, TTI.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set ofcandidate radio resources is performed by selecting a certain number ofradio resources among the candidate radio resources obtained by thesensing on the first carrier.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst set of candidate radio resources is performed by randomlyselecting a certain number of radio resources among the candidate radioresources obtained by the sensing on the first carrier.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first selection is performed in dependency of thesecond set of candidate radio resources obtained by the sensing on thesecond carrier.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein a first subset ofcandidate resources is obtained by removing one or a plurality ofcandidate radio resources from the first set in dependency of the secondsubset, and wherein performing the first selection is performed byselecting the one or the plurality of the candidate radio resources fromthe first subset.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein if the list ofcandidate resources for the first carrier comprises resources fortransmission at a first time (TTI1) and a second time (TTI2) and thelist of candidate resources for the second carrier only containsresources for transmission at the first time (TTI1), the resources atthe second time (TTI2) are removed from the first set.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein performing the second selection comprises selecting aradio resource associated to the same transmission time (TTI1) as thetransmission time associated to at least one of the resources selectedto be used for the first transmission.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein if the radio resources selected from the first set are resourcesfor a first transmission time (TTI1) and the list of candidate resourcesin the second carrier comprises radio resources for transmission at thefirst transmission time (TTI1) and at a second transmission time (TTI2),the second selection comprises discarding the radio resources at thesecond transmission time.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein performingthe second selection comprises not selecting radio resources from thesecond set that are not associated to any transmission time of any theradio resources selected to be used for the first transmission.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein performing the second selection comprisesselecting out of the second set one or a plurality radio resources forone or a plurality of transmission times that is/are different to theone or the plurality of transmission times of the radio resourcesselected to be used for the first transmission.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein if the radio resources selected from the first set areresources for a first transmission time (TTI1) and the list of candidateresources in the second set comprises radio resources for transmissionat the first transmission time (TTI1) and at a transmission second time(TTI2), the second selection comprises selecting among the radioresources at the second transmission time or discarding the radioresources at the first transmission time.
 15. The method of claim 1,further comprising ranking the set of candidate radio resources for thesecond transmission into a plurality of priority levels in dependency ofthe one or the plurality of the candidate radio resources of the firstselection.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the ranking is performedbased on a comparison of the transmission times of the candidateresources selected from the first set for the first transmission, andthe transmission times of the candidate resources of the candidateresources of the second list.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein theranking is performed such that radio resources for transmission at thesame time as the transmission time of any of the resources selected fromthe first set for the first transmission are ranked higher than theother resources of the second set.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinperforming the second selection of the one or the plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission is based on the priority levels of the radio resources,such that only radio resources of the priority level above the lowerlevel are selected, or that only radio resources of the priority levelabove the lower level are selected, if the number of such radioresources is not smaller than a certain or defined number.
 19. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the ranking is performed such that radioresources for transmission at the same time as the transmission time ofany of the resources selected from the first set for the firsttransmission are ranked lower level than a priority level of the otherresources of the second set.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein theradio device comprises physical layer functions and MAC layer functions,wherein the steps of sensing on the first carrier and sensing on thesecond carrier are performed by the physical layer functions, andwherein the physical layer functions transmit an information indicativeof the candidate radio resources of the first set and the second set tothe MAC layer functions.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the MAClayer functions perform the first selection and the second selection.22. The method of claim 21, wherein the wireless device furthercomprises a first HARQ function associated to the first carrier and asecond HARQ function associated to the second carrier and wherein theMAC layer performs resource grants to said HARQ functions according tothe first and second selections.
 23. A communication system including ahost computer, the communication system comprising: processing circuitryconfigured to provide user data; a communication interface configured toforward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a userequipment (UE); and wherein the cellular network comprises a basestation having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the basestation's processing circuitry configured to perform: sensing on a firstcarrier and obtaining a first set of candidate radio resources for afirst transmission on the first carrier; performing a first selection ofone or a plurality of the candidate radio resources from the first setto be used for the first transmission on the first carrier; sensing on asecond carrier different from the first carrier and obtaining a secondset of candidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier; performing a second selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission on the second carrier; and wherein the first selection andthe second selection are performed in time dependency to each other. 24.The communication system of claim 23, further including the basestation.
 25. The communication system of claim 24, further including theUE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.26. The communication system of claim 25, wherein: the processingcircuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a hostapplication, thereby providing the user data; and the UE comprisesprocessing circuitry configured to execute a client applicationassociated with the host application.
 27. A method implemented in acommunication system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host computer,providing user data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising thebase station, wherein the base station performs; sensing on a firstcarrier and obtaining a first set of candidate radio resources for afirst transmission on the first carrier; performing a first selection ofone or a plurality of the candidate radio resources from the first setto be used for the first transmission on the first carrier; sensing on asecond carrier different from the first carrier and obtaining a secondset of candidate radio resources for a second transmission on the secondcarrier; performing a second selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the second set to be used for the secondtransmission on the second carrier; and wherein the first selection andthe second selection are performed in time dependency to each other. 28.The method of claim 27, further comprising: at the base station,transmitting the user data.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the userdata is provided at the host computer by executing a host application,the method further comprising: at the UE, executing a client applicationassociated with the host application.
 30. A communication systemincluding a host computer, the communication system comprising:processing circuitry configured to provide user data; a communicationinterface configured to forward user data to a cellular network fortransmission to a user equipment (UE); and wherein the UE comprises aradio interface and processing circuitry, the UE's processing circuitryconfigured to perform: sensing on a first carrier and obtaining a firstset of candidate radio resources for a first transmission on the firstcarrier; performing a first selection of one or a plurality of thecandidate radio resources from the first set to be used for the firsttransmission on the first carrier; sensing on a second carrier differentfrom the first carrier and obtaining a second set of candidate radioresources for a second transmission on the second carrier; performing asecond selection of one or a plurality of the candidate radio resourcesfrom the second set to be used for the second transmission on the secondcarrier; and wherein the first selection and the second selection areperformed in time dependency to each other.
 31. The communication systemof claim 30, further including the UE.
 32. The communication system ofclaim 31, wherein the cellular network further includes a base stationconfigured to communicate with the UE.
 33. The communication system ofclaim 31, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer isconfigured to execute a host application, thereby providing the userdata; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute aclient application associated with the host application.